Hi, I just bought a place in Ruskin (Stave Falls/Whonnok) and don't want grass. The property abuts a creek that is fish habitat; well wooded with ferns, etc. My plants will be mostly native and want to do the same with the ground cover. I've read about Dichondra micrantha & Yerba Buena but my search results have been rather poor. The area will be small and I want to be able to walk on it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Paganii
Neither of the two plants you've investigated for a groundcover are native. Dichondra would not survive, while Mentha spicata (one plant of many with a common name of yerba buena) is a noted pest / invasive in many states in eastern North America. I don't have any knowledge of how it acts here, but considering you are near a watercourse, you'd be taking a gamble with it. Making things yet worse (if I am understanding your situation correctly), you won't be able to find a native groundcover that can meet your requirements (particularly the one about being able to walk on it - barefoot? or with shoes?). Consider what you see (or rather, don't see) in parks / hiking trails in similar locales. However, I might not be imagining the entire situation properly. Could you provide more details on amount of shade in the area and rough size of the area?
Hi Daniel, Thanks for such a quick reply. The area is approximately 50 by 60 feet and yes, I'd like to walk on it. The natural area adjacent to me has different trees, some ash, hazel, ferns, and moss growing on the bank and bark of the trees. If worse comes to worse I'll lay down flagstone rather than stay with grass. Thanks for your help.
To me yerba buena, at least in this context would be Satureja douglasii. It likes dryish, nitrogen rich soils. Some places I have been to there is alot of it on the forest floor. On my regular routes I see it only sporadically--such as above the road cut across the street from the Camano Island (Island County, WA) property, as well as on a little dry hump actually on the Camano place; there is also a point on the Vashon (King County, WA, west of Seattle) highway where a noticeable fringe of it is hanging down over the top edge of the ditch. That last bit might be the closest I have seen to a covering effect. "Though native from S British Columbia into California, YERBA BUENA is as rare now in the Seattle area as it was common 100 years ago. However, native plant nurseries sell this very slender, trailing evergreen shrublet or perennial groundcover. The 'good herb' favors dry, open woods on well-drained soil, in sun or part shade." - WILD PLANTS OF GREATER SEATTLE* The moss on the bank and bark of trees there might be giving you a hint of what would work best there. *2001 Arthur Lee Jacobson
You can't walk on it, but flagstones set in Linnaea borealis, or Twinflower, might make a nice native lawn replacement. It likes very organic rich soil, some shade, and some moisture, but in the right conditions can form a nearly solid mat.
Thank you all for your wonderful ideas and information, I really appreciate it! Wow... So much to think about LOL
Yerba buena, is uncommon in the Coquitlam area,(not far from Mission). Twinflower, a beautiful creeping plant, does not like being disturbed to much, especially for the first few years, after that it tolerates some foot traffic,(it will trip you up if not sure footed). Some of the small creeping Thyme's will work, although they are not native, they are generally not an invasive problem. Moss, is a good choice, either use small plugs, or place your moss of choice into a blender, with a small amount of skim milk powder, add water, then use a watering can over the area. The different species of moss are quite plentiful in your area, and have the benefit of being native and low maintenance. Look around the immediate local area, the plants, already there are good indicators of what will grow, in your situation.
Hi NiftyNiall, Thanks for your info, I am thinking more and more on the line of Moss, too. Actually, from looking at the area as we get warmer, I think the moss is starting to take over on its own. I hardly see any grass and a lot of clumps of moss. Do you think adding the seed/milk/water combo on top of that will assist in it's spread? Or should I just leave well enough alone? Oh, and when I make the mixture, I just take a clump of moss, add it to the blender, and give it a whiz? It won't damage it's ability to propogate? Or do I add seeds to the mix? Thanks again, this is great stuff :)
Hi there, Moss reproduce via spores, not seeds. I think the idea is that the blending/milk make a liquid full of spores that you spread and then the moss springs up. Never heard of that. But moss doesn't like a lost of direct sun or dry ground.. What about simply sowing plugs of a native grass? It will be much rougher than regular grass/turf, but so what? Just let it grow wild and beat down paths where you walk. Moss will also turn to mush if you walk on it a lot while it is wet. Then you are just walking on a dirt/mud path... which would negate the purpose of this whole discussion. Dirt paths aren't very hard to make in the first place. If you want to find plants that can really take a beating just look next to a busy road near your home. If it's a real experiment for you, which it clearly is, why not approach it scientifically. Science is just a fancy word for “educated guesses followed by trial and error”. Do all of the above in different areas and see what works well with the amount of effort you want to put into it. Transplant a lot of different grasses, mosses, creeping plants, etc. and see what works and where. The greatest benefit to all this is that your plant costs should be about zero. I wouldn’t expect to get it all correct on a first try. The only way to find out what can handle how ever much foot traffic you have is to subject the plants to that foot traffic for a season--if it lives it stays. Works in nature. Michael
Hi, I feel like a dipstick because I know Moss uses spores LOL Mental Pause Moment! But I have this container of Irish Moss, that calls itself "Seeds" ;-) ... Could I spread that, or is that not considered native? The plan is evolving to the point where I can say I want native plants with a little ground cover around flagstone in key areas. I think what I want to see is something betweeen an english country garden and a wild glade, using native plants of course. Your ideas are great, especially the 'scientific' approach with transplanting. I'll give it a go. Thanks again!
Hello Paganii, Not to confuse things more, but your Irish moss does produce seeds. Irish moss is the common name for a flowering perennial, Sagina subulata - not actually a moss at all. So don't use the blender method for that one.
Hi Eric, Thanks... And Irish Moss is blown out of the water as nothing I've found indicates it's a 'native' plant to this area. Ah well... I'll return those 'seeds' *g*, get my mud clothes on, and go foraging. Or just do rock sand gravel, leaving the ground cover to the creekside and nature. Thanks again to everyone that's given me their insight. Paganii
I thought of this thread when I was by chance introduced to a plant by my local nursery person. It is Chamaemelum nobile, Creeping Chamomile. Sunset says: Hope this will work for you.
Maianthemum dilatatum will cover up just about everything and looks pretty cool. Same with M. canadense. They're rather ubiquitous in Sitka spruce forests and coastal regions. They're understory lillies and not really usually considered groundcover in a traditional sense, but will grow in deep shade and next to creeks. However they are technically edible (they don't taste good though) and have a large number of ethnobotanical uses (Almost every coastal tribe in the NW used it for something). Their leaves grow to about mid-shin height and are rhizomous so they'll take over some places if left to their own devices. Other Maianthemum species are not native to BC specifically, but almost all are native to N. America. It's hard to find places that carry these plants, but really all you have to do is find a place where they're growing, take out a knife, and cut out some rhizomes and plant them, and they should be fine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maianthemum http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/environment/culres/ethbot/m-p/Maianthemum.htm
